April 12, 2016 5:59pm

 

Setbacks in equity pricing provided marginal buying opportunities to investors by traders who create headwinds and tailwinds or are about to …

 

Do you care what happened today, you should because it has implications to tomorrow’s sector activity?   

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Pre-open indication analysis – 3 hits and 1 misses

 

 

 

There is one thing that everyone needs, and that's interpretation and translation of intelligence, not just news or information - we get too much!

  • To that end, I report a matrix of variables designed for investor’s consideration concerning the stem, cell and gene therapy regenerative medicine portfolio to track and monitor its pricing metric;

The takeaway is that investor need to decide what actions to take, or not take, based on their specific situation.

 

 

U.S. stocks climbed Tuesday to their best levels of the day. The Dow rose+0.94% while the S&P 500 index SPX was up +0.97%, after slipping into the red about an hour into the day’s trading action. The NASDAQ climbed 0.80%.

The NASDAQ closed UP +38.69 or +0.80% to 4,872.09 and the DOW closed UP +164.84 or +0.94% to 17,721.25.

 

 

A day in the life of the stem, cell and gene therapy RegMed (SCGT & RM) sector – the advance/decline line scenario of our 43 covered companies.

  • Tuesday, the stem, cell and gene therapy and regenerative medicine sector opened negative with an A/DL of 9/9 and 5 flats;

 

  • The mid-day stayed negative with an A/DL of 17/21 with 5 flats;

 

  • The closing bell rang negative with A/DL of 21/19 with 3 flats

 

 

Henry’omics:

After a negative open and mid-day, the stem, cell and gene therapy and regenerative medicine moved at approximately the 3 pm hour to the positive

  • Sparks of hope appear fleetingly keeping the stem, cell and gene therapy and regenerative medicine (SCGT&RM) sector trading to the upside after downside and sideway “slides “ as exhibited by today’s session.

Helpful is that volatility is decreasing, as the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, declined more than 6.5% to near 15.

  • But, we all need to take a hard look at the overall picture as we don’t like what we are seeing.

Some charts of “our” universe, make a reference to “lipstick on a pig” as to “some” stocks as the SCGT&RM sector remains moribund by an uncomfortable mix of factors, including above-average valuations, slowed enrollments, the predominance of P2 trials that don’t go further and unappreciated daily, weekly and monthly declines.

  • The key to the upside failures is the lack of catalysts to create momentum with multiple risks in regulatory filings.

Those risks also include <in my belief> that continued increases in executive pay, bonuses and stock awards without a clear measurement of result in operating costs.

  • The tug of war going on between the oversold and overbought will cause more profit-taking heading into earnings season.

 

 

Tuesday’s handicapping the sector pre-open indications – 3 hits and 1 misses

  • Caladrius Bioscience (CLBS) closed DOWN -$0.02 – hit;
  • Intrexon (XON) closed DOWN -$0.18 – miss;
  • Juno Therapeutics (JUNO) closed UP +$1.61 – hit;
  • MiMedx (MDXG) closed UP -$0.06 – hit;

 

 

Out and about:

 

Applied Genetic Technologies (AGTC) is on a roll after a merry-go-round share pricing.

  • AGTC closed UP +$0.49 to $16.15. Can it last as it has been a traders target but, the closer financial results will tell? I still remember 4/1/16’s $14.55 following 3/24’s $13.70. AGTC should do well after the Biogen (BIIB) deal “dollars” should reflect a good quarter. The other issue is the retail "play" never seems to work.

 

Athersys (ATHX) closed DOWN -$0.09 to $2.10 which is off its high  of 3/22/16’s $2.65.

  • Watch for further slippage;

 

MiMedx (MDXG) closed UP +$0.06 to $8.26.

  • I stated this am in the pre-open that it was an anomaly associated with a systems transition;

 

Spark Therapeutics (ONCE) closed UP +$0.74 to $33.12 as the oversold “hit” seems to be fading.

  • ONCE had hit $29.51 on 3/31/16 but, gene therapy is approaching regulatory approval as GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Is one step closer to EU Approval for Its Gene Therapy – one moves and others follow as why (?) AGTC is also feeling some happiness

 

Intrexon (XON) closed DOWN -$0.18 to $32.99 in a day’s range of $32.08 to $33.83.

 

 

Dosing the sector – what a day for the 43 Patients:

  • The sector opened: NEGATIVE with 29 decliners, 9 advancers and 5 flats;
  • The mid-day (12:30 pm: NEGATIVE with 21 decliners, 17 advancers and 5 flats;
  • Closing bell: Barely POSITIVE with 19 decliners, 21 advancers and 3 flats

 

 

Review my fear gauge or the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX):

  • Tuesday traded near 15;
  • Monday traded above 16;
  • Friday traded near 15.4 – down!
  • Thursday traded near 16.7;
  • Wednesday traded below 14.5;
  • Last, Tuesday traded above 15;

 

 

Riding the indexes and ETFs roller-coaster:

  • The iShares Biotechnology Stocks ETF (IBB) closed UP on Tuesday +3.21 or +1.18%
  • The NASDAQ Biotechnology index (NBI) closed UP +32.13 or +1.13%
  • The Russell 2000 (IWM) closed UP +1.17 or +1.08%
  • The SPDR SD&P Biotech ETF (XBI) closed UP +0.53 or +0.97%

 

 

Who was leading the declines – to of the bottom 5?

  • Aduro Biotech (ADRO) closed down -$0.67 to $12.99;
  • Cellectis SA (CLLS) -$0.50 to $27.59;
  • Intrexon (XON) -$0.18 to $32.99;
  • Brainstorm (BCLI) -$0.16 to $2.31;
  • Fate Therapeutics (FATE) closed down -$0.12 to $2.12;

 

 

Who was UP – top 5:

  • Juno Therapeutics (JUNO) closed up +$1.61 to $41.92;
  • Kite Pharma (KITE) +$1.00 to $50.67;
  • Spark therapeutics (ONCE) +$0.74 to $33.12;
  • Applied Genetic Technologies (AGTC) +$0.49 to $16.15;
  • VistaGen (VSTA) closed UP +$0.30 to $7.80

 

 

Most active sector stocks + and -:

  • Osiris (OSIR) +4.52%;
  • Vericel (VCEL) +4.35%;
  • Juno Therapeutics (JUNO) +3.99%;

Versus …

  • Brainstorm (BCLI) -6.48%;
  • Opexa (OPXA) -2.70%;
  • Fate Therapeutics (FATE) -5.36%;

 

 

Who was FLAT?

  • AxoGen (AXGN) at $5.29;
  • Biostage (BSTG) at $1.88;
  • ReNeuron (RENE.L) at $3.00;

 

 

Opinions expressed are those of the author and are subject to change, and not intended to be a forecast of future events, a guarantee of future results, nor investment advice.

Whether information or intelligence is good, bad or somewhere in between; I put into context what is relevant and useful for investors.  All investments are subject to risks. Investors should consider investment objectives.

Henry McCusker, the editor and publisher of RegMed Investors does not hold or have positions in securities referred to in this publication.